Self-Reliance
"Self-Reliance" is an essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's recurrent themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas. It is the source of one of Emerson's most famous quotations: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." This essay is an analysis into the nature of the “aboriginal self on which a universal reliance may be grounded.” Text of "Self-Reliance" "Self-Reliance " - Clicking here takes you to the essay. Plot Synopsis Published first in 1841 in Essays and then in the 1847 revised edition of Essays, "Self-Reliance" took shape over a long period of time. Throughout his life, Emerson kept detailed journals of his thoughts and actions, and he returned to them as a source for many of his essays. Such is the case with "Self-Reliance," which includes materials from journal entries dating as far back as 1832. In addition to his journals, Emerson drew on various lectures he delivered between 1836 and 1839. The first edition of the essay bore three epigraphs: a Latin line, meaning "Do not seek outside yourself"; a six-line stanza from Beaumont and Fletcher's Honest Man's Fortune; and a four-line stanza that Emerson himself wrote. Emerson dropped his stanza from the revised edition of the essay, but modern editors have since restored it. All three epigraphs stress the necessity of relying on oneself for knowledge and guidance. The essay has three major divisions: the importance of self-reliance (paragraphs 1-17), self-reliance and the individual (paragraphs 18-32), and self-reliance and society (paragraphs 33-50). As a whole, it promotes self-reliance as an ideal, even a virtue, and contrasts it with various modes of dependence or conformity. Tossup Questions # In one point in this essay, the author discusses his disillusioned dream of going to Naples while concluding "Travelling is a fool's paradise." This essay claims that the "voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks," and the author calls for "a whistle from the Spartan fife" to be played instead of the "gong for dinner." This essay notes that people like Socrates, Pythagoras, and Jesus have been (*) misunderstood, and notes that Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. This essay describes society as a joint-stock company which demands conformity. Its most famous line is "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" and it may have been written in response to criticism faced after the author's Divinity School Address. For 10 points, name this Ralph Waldo Emerson essay which urges the listener to "trust thyself." # This essay calls travelling a "superstition" caused by a "want of self-culture" because travelers merely carry "ruins to ruins." The author of this essay recalls hearing a "valued advisor" warn that his "impulses may be from below, not from above," causing the author to assert "if I am the Devil's child, I will live then from the Devil." This essay claims that "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members," and calls "A foolish consistency" the "hobgoblin of little minds." This essay argues that "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind," and asserts "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist." For 10 points, name this essay which urges readers to trust their intuition and common sense, written by Ralph Waldo Emerson.